Touch sensing method and electronic device

ABSTRACT

A touch sensing method for a touch panel and an electronic device are provided. The touch sensing method includes: selecting a portion of multiple touch sensing units as to-sense touch sensing units, applying first touch excitation signals to the those to obtain multiple first touch sensing signals, and obtaining multiple differential sensing signals based on multiple first touch sensing signals; selecting a touch sensing unit as a reference touch sensing unit, and applying a touch reference signal to it to obtain a reference sensing signal; selecting a to-sense touch sensing unit as a preprocessing touch sensing unit, and applying a second touch excitation signal to it to obtain a second touch sensing signal; obtaining a capacitance sensing signal from the reference sensing signal and the second touch sensing signal; and acquiring capacitance values of multiple to-sense touch sensing units according to the differential sensing signals and the capacitance sensing signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This disclosure claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/030,317 entitled “touch detection circuit and operating methodthereof” and filed on May 27, 2020, and U.S. Provisional Application No.63/063,416 entitled “differential sensing technology applied to touchcircuit” and filed on Aug. 9, 2020, which are incorporated into thisdisclosure by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a field of circuits, and morespecifically, to a touch sensing method and a touch sensing apparatusfor a touch panel, and an electronic device.

BACKGROUND

For traditional panels that integrate touching, displaying orfingerprint-recognizing, interference between respective circuits usedto drive touch sensing (touching), displaying, orfingerprint-recognizing cannot be avoided, which affects the effect oftouch sensing. A traditional solution may be, for example, time-divisiondriving of respective circuits used for driving touching, displaying, orfingerprint recognizing, to avoid interference with each other. However,for integrated panels that integrate display panels like organiclight-emitting diodes (OLEDs)/or Mini LEDs, etc., since the displaydriving cannot be stopped, it is difficult to achieve time-divisiondriving. That is to say, operations on a display panel may always bringnoises to the touch sensing. Or, it is currently possible to use analogor digital filters in touch sensing circuits to increase sampling time.However, this method requires more power consumption.

Therefore, there is a need for a solution that may reduce the influenceof noise caused by displaying and fingerprint recognizing as well asother operations on the touch sensing of the touch panel.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided atouch sensing method for a touch panel, the touch panel including aplurality of touch sensing units, and the touch sensing method includes:selecting a portion of the plurality of touch sensing units as aplurality of to-sense touch sensing units, applying first touchexcitation signals to the plurality of to-sense touch sensing units toobtain a plurality of first touch sensing signals, and obtaining aplurality of differential sensing signals from the plurality of firsttouch sensing signals; selecting at least one of the plurality of touchsensing units as a reference touch sensing unit, and applying a touchreference signal to the reference touch sensing unit to obtain at leastone reference sensing signal; selecting at least one of the plurality ofto-sense touch sensing units as a preprocessing touch sensing unit, andapplying a second touch excitation signal to the preprocessing touchsensing unit to obtain at least one second touch sensing signal;obtaining at least one capacitance sensing signal from the at least onereference sensing signal and the at least one second touch sensingsignal; and acquiring capacitance values of the plurality of to-sensetouch sensing units according to the plurality of differential sensingsignals and the at least one capacitance sensing signal.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is furtherprovided a touch sensing method for a touch panel, the touch panelincluding a plurality of touch sensing units, and the touch sensingmethod includes: selecting a portion of the plurality of touch sensingunits as a plurality of to-sense touch sensing units and selecting atleast one of the plurality of touch sensing units as a reference touchsensing unit; applying touch excitation signals to the plurality ofto-sense touch sensing units to obtain a plurality of first touchsensing signals, and applying a touch reference signal to at least onereference touch sensing unit to obtain at least one reference sensingsignal; obtaining a plurality of differential sensing signals from theplurality of first touch sensing signals; selecting at least one of theplurality of first touch sensing signals as at least one second touchsensing signal; obtaining at least one capacitance sensing signal fromthe at least one second touch sensing signal and the at least onereference sensing signal; and acquiring capacitance values of theplurality of touch sensing units according to the plurality ofdifferential sensing signals and the at least one capacitance sensingsignal.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there isfurther provided an electronic device comprising: a touch panel, a touchsensing apparatus configured to perform touch sensing methods describedabove, and a controller configured to determine a touch position basedon capacitance values of the plurality of to-sense touch sensing units.

In order to make the features and advantages of the present disclosureas described above more comprehensible, embodiments are listed below andare described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding ofembodiments of the present disclosure, and constitute a part of thespecification, and are used to explain the present disclosure togetherwith the embodiments of the present disclosure, and do not constitute alimitation to the present disclosure. Throughout the accompanyingdrawings, the same reference numerals generally represent thesame/similar components or steps.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a touch sensing apparatus and atouch-and-display panel according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the influence of noise signals ontouch sensing units according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 3A-3B show schematic flowcharts of a touch sensing method for atouch panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3C shows an equivalent circuit for applying excitation signals tothree to-sense touch sensing units in a first time period according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3D shows a timing chart when touch sensing is performed on threeto-sense touch sensing units according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 3E-3F show two equivalent circuits for applying excitation signalsto a pair of a reference touch sensing unit and a preprocessing touchsensing unit in a second time period according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4A shows a schematic flowchart of a touch sensing method 400 for atouch panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4B shows six ways of selecting a to-sense touch sensing unit and areference touch sensing unit according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4C shows an equivalent circuit for applying excitation signals to 8to-sense touch sensing units in the first first time period according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4D shows an equivalent circuit for applying excitation signals to 8to-sense touch sensing units in the second first time period accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4E shows a timing chart when touch sensing is performed on 8to-sense touch sensing units according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a positional relationship between a touch sensing unitcorresponding to a second touch sensing signal and a touch sensing unitcorresponding to a reference sensing signal according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows an equivalent circuit diagram of applying an anti-loadingdriving signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 7A-7B show schematic diagrams of a touch sensing apparatus 700according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The term “coupled (or connected)” used in the full specification of thisdisclosure (including the claims) may refer to any direct or indirectconnection means. For example, if it is described in the specificationthat a first device is coupled (or connected) to a second device, itshould be interpreted as that the first device may be directly connectedto the second device, or the first device may be indirectly connected tothe second device through another device or some kind of connectionmeans. The terms “first” and “second” and so on mentioned in the fullspecification of this disclosure (including the claims) are used to namethe element (element), or to distinguish different embodiments orscopes, and are not used to limit the upper or lower limit of the numberof elements, nor are not used to limit the order of the elements. Inaddition, wherever possible, elements/members/steps with the samereference signs in the accompanying drawings and implementationsrepresent the same or similar parts. Elements/members/steps using thesame reference numerals or using the same terms in different embodimentsmay mutually refer to relevant descriptions. An expression used in thesingular may encompass the expression of the plural, and an expressionused in the plural may also encompass the expression of the singularunless it has been clearly defined in the context.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a touch sensing apparatus and atouch-and-display panel according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, a touch sensing apparatus 100 is coupled to atouch-and-display panel 200, and the touch-and-display panel 200 isintegrated with a touch panel 210 and a display panel 220. The touchpanel 210 includes a plurality of touch sensing units 210_1˜210_M, whereM is a positive integer. Touch sensing units have the same semantics astouch sensitive cells or touch-sensitive units, and the three can beused interchangeably.

According to some embodiments, the touch sensing units 210_1˜210_M maybe arranged to overlap the display panel 220 on at least one surface ofthe display panel 220, as shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, thetouch sensing units 210_1˜210_M may be formed inside the display panel220.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the touch sensingapparatus 100 is suitable for sensing the plurality of touch sensingunits 210_1˜210_M of the touch-and-display panel 210.

The touch sensing units 210_1˜210_M may be touch electrodes. Each touchelectrode forms a self-capacitor relative to a reference ground. When atouch excitation signal is applied to the touch electrode, an electricalsignal is output from the touch electrode. When a touch occurs and atouch excitation signal is applied to the touch electrode, additionalcapacitors will be introduced, thereby causing a change in theelectrical signal output by the touch electrode. The change in theelectrical signal may be used to detect that touch is occurring at thetouch electrode.

The plurality of touch sensing units 210_1˜210_M may be arrangedaccording to the shape of the panel. In some embodiments, the pluralityof touch sensing units 210_1˜210_M may be arranged in an A*B (A row(s)and B column(s)) array form, which is not limited in this disclosure.

Although it is shown in FIG. 1 that the touch sensing unit is of thetype of self-capacitance, and most of the description in the context ofthe present disclosure is based on the type of self-capacitance, thoseskilled in the art will understand that the touch sensing unit may alsobe of the type of mutual capacitance. In the case of the type of mutualcapacitance, the touch panel 210 includes touch electrodes (drivingelectrodes and sensing electrodes) arranged in rows and columns, andthere is one mutual capacitor at an intersection of each row and eachcolumn, and the mutual capacitor may be considered as one touch sensingunit. Each driving electrode is applied with a driving signal, and thesensing signals corresponding to the driving signal are read from allthe sensing electrodes. When a touch occurs, the mutual capacitancevalues of the touch electrodes near the touch position will change,which will cause the value of the sensing signal to change, so that itcan be determined that the touch occurs.

The touch sensing apparatus 100 may include a plurality of touch sensingcircuits, denoted by 110_1˜110_N. One touch sensing circuit may bearranged for each touch sensing unit. It is determined that the touch isoccurring in the touch sensing unit based on the change of theelectrical signal obtained from the touch sensing unit, and the numberof the touch sensing circuit should be M (that is, A*B). In someembodiments, one touch sensing circuit may be arranged for each row, andone touch sensing circuit may be configured for each column, that is, aplurality of sensing channels are configured horizontally andvertically, and each sensing channel is configured with one touchsensing circuit. In this case, it is necessary to detect the horizontaland vertical channels to determine the position of the touch sensingunit where the touch occurs, based on the row and column where theelectrical signal changes are detected, and the number of touch sensingcircuits should be A+B. In addition, in the case that touch sensing unitmay also be of the type of mutual capacitance, one or more circuits thatapply the excitation signal (or refer as driving signal) to each drivingelectrode and obtain a plurality of sensing signals from the pluralityof sensing electrodes may be collectively regarded as the touch sensingcircuit corresponding to the driving electrode.

The touch sensing apparatus 100 may further include a plurality ofoperation units 112_1˜112_N and a plurality of digital processing units114_1˜114_N (for example, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and adigital back-end (DBE) circuit, the digital back-end circuit includes adigital processing circuit with related specific functions, and the DBEcircuit may also be omitted, which is not limited in this disclosure),etc., which correspond to the plurality of touch sensing circuits110_1˜110_N in an one-to-one manner, where N is a positive integer. Eachof the touch sensing circuits 110_1˜110_N may obtain a sensing signalfrom a touch sensing unit, and provide the obtained sensing signal tothe subsequent operation unit and digital processing unit, etc., so asto output a digital signal. The paths between the touch sensing circuits110_1˜110_N to the operation units 112_1˜112_N may provide signals toeach other to perform respective signal operations. The subsequentcontroller may determine the touch position according to the respectivesignals provided by the digital processing units.

In this embodiment, the operation units 112_1˜112_N may implementoperation mode in the form of current, voltage or electric charge, toimplement the operation functions described in the embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

It should be noted that the “noise” mentioned above or below in thepresent disclosure may include interference from the display panelreceived by the touch panel, such as cathode noise and common mode noisefrom the display panel 220 or other noise, which is not limited in thisdisclosure. In one embodiment, the display panel may be, for example, anOrganic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display panel, a Liquid-CrystalDisplay (LCD) panel, a mini-led or other types of display panels, whichis not limited in this disclosure. In addition, the touch sensingcircuit may also be integrated in an integrated chip with a displaydriver, such as a Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI) chip. Inaddition, in another embodiment, the touch-and-display panel may also beintegrated with a fingerprint recognizing panel, so that the “noise” inthe present disclosure is more likely to include interference from thefingerprint recognizing panel. In addition, the touch sensing circuit isalso integrated in an integrated chip having a fingerprint sensingdriver and a display driver, such as a Fingerprint, Touch and Displaydriver Integration (FTDI) chip.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, taking self-capacitance asan example, for each touch sensing unit, in a case that an area of acontact pad of the touch electrode corresponding to the touch sensingunit is the same, based on a formation principle of parallel platecapacitor, it may be known that when a horizontal position of the touchelectrode is fixed, the self-capacitance of the touch electrode isproportional to the area of the contact pad, so it is default thatexternal interferences (for example, display noise, common mode noise,etc.) they are subject to are the same. At this time, a schematicdiagram of the influence of noise signals on the touch sensing units maybe as shown in FIG. 2. Of course, if the areas of the contact pads ofthe touch electrodes corresponding to the touch sensing units aredifferent, correspondingly, the external interference (for example,display noise, common mode noise, etc.) subjected by these touch sensingunits may be different.

In FIG. 2, two touch sensing units and corresponding two touch sensingcircuits are shown. The first touch sensing unit has a self-capacitanceCs 1 and the second touch sensing unit has a self-capacitance Cs2. In acase shown in FIG. 2, the areas of the contact pads of the touchelectrodes corresponding to the touch sensing units are the same. Sincea size of the self-capacitance may be determined by the area of thecontact pad of the touch electrode corresponding to the touch sensingunit, the self-capacitances Cs1 and Cs2 of each touch sensing unit areequal, and voltage Vn1 and Vn2 of the noise signals are respectivelyapplied to the self-capacitance Cs1 and Cs2 of each touch sensing unit.In addition, generally for a same touch panel, the voltage Vn1 or Vn2 ofthe noise signal subjected by each touch electrode is also positivelycorrelated with the area of the contact pad of the touch electrode.

Similarly, when the touch sensing unit is of the type of mutualcapacitance, the mutual capacitance value will also be determined by therelative area of the touch electrode (the driving electrode and thesensing electrode). For example, the mutual capacitance value of themutual capacitor between the driving electrode in the first row and thesensing electrode in the first column is determined by the relative areaof the two electrodes. In addition, the value of the voltage of thenoise signal applied to the mutual capacitor is also positivelycorrelated with the relative area.

The touch sensing method for the touch panel proposed by the embodimentsof the present disclosure is able to reduce the influence of noises onthe touch sensing result.

Hereinafter, the touch sensing method for the touch panel according toan embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail withreference to FIGS. 3A-3F.

FIG. 3A shows a schematic flowchart of a touch sensing method 300 for atouch panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Thistouch sensing method may be used in touch sensing circuits and operationunits shown in FIG. 1. In method 300, the touch sensing unit to besensed (hereinafter, also referred to as “to-sense touch sensing unit”for brevity) and the reference touch sensing unit work in atime-division manner.

As shown in FIG. 3A, at step S301, a portion of the plurality of touchsensing units are selected as a plurality of to-sense touch sensingunits, and first touch excitation signals are applied to the pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units to obtain a plurality of first touchsensing signals, and a plurality of differential sensing signals areobtained from the plurality of first touch sensing signals. At stepS302, at least one of the plurality of touch sensing units is selectedas a reference touch sensing unit, and a touch reference signal isapplied to the reference touch sensing unit to obtain at least onereference sensing signal. At step S303, at least one to-sense touchsensing unit is selected from the plurality of to-sense touch sensingunits as a preprocessing touch sensing unit, and a second touchexcitation signal is applied to the preprocessing touch sensing unit toobtain at least one second touch sensing signal. At step S304, at leastone capacitance sensing signal is obtained from the at least onereference sensing signal and the at least one second touch sensingsignal. At step S305, according to the plurality of differential sensingsignals and the at least one capacitance sensing signal, the capacitancevalues of the plurality of to-sense touch sensing units are obtained.

The above steps are further described below with reference to FIGS. 3Bto 3F. Optionally, as shown in FIG. 1, each touch sensing circuit has acorresponding touch sensing unit. In the case that touch occurs on thetouch sensing unit is sensed, this touch-sensing circuit outputs a touchsignal. For example, when a user's finger or pen touches or approachesthe touch sensing unit, the touch sensing circuit may detect thecapacitance change at the touch sensing unit, so that the touch sensingcircuit may output a touch sensing signal indicating the change to thesubsequent corresponding operation unit.

Optionally, at step S301, a plurality of touch sensing circuits mayapply first touch excitation signals to a plurality of to-sense touchsensing units in a first time period. The following illustration takesthe first touch excitation signals being applied by the plurality oftouch sensing circuits to the plurality of to-sense touch sensing unitsin the first time period as an example, and those skilled in the artshould understand that this disclosure is not limited thereto.

Optionally, the plurality of touch sensing units may be a plurality oftouch sensing units arranged in a matrix. For example, referring to FIG.3B, at step S301, the selection of a portion of the plurality of touchsensing units as a plurality of to-sense touch sensing units furtherincludes: selecting touch sensing units located in the same column fromthe plurality of touch sensing units as a plurality of to-sense touchsensing units. Those skilled in the art should understand that FIG. 3Bis only an example, and the to-sense touch sensing unit may be selectedin alternative ways, which is not limited in this disclosure. In FIG.3B, the column filled with diagonal lines shows the touch sensing unitsof the same column. Optionally, each touch sensing unit in the column isselected as a to-sense touch sensing unit in the first time period. Inthe first time period, each touch sensing unit in the column is appliedwith a first touch excitation signal. In this column, a first touchsensing signal corresponding to every two touch sensing units may yieldone differential sensing signal. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3C,how to yield a differential sensing signal according to the first touchsensing signal will be described.

FIG. 3C shows an equivalent circuit for applying excitation signals tothree to-sense touch sensing units in a first time period according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3D shows a timing chartwhen touch sensing is performed on three to-sense touch sensing unitsaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3C and 3D areonly examples to facilitate illustration, and those skilled in the artshould understand that the touch panel may include more or less touchsensing units, and their timing may also be set correspondingly, whichis not limited in this disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 3C and 3D, as an example, Cs1, Cs2, and Cs3 representequivalent capacitances of touch sensing units (hereinafter alsoreferred to as capacitances to be measured) on different sensing linesof the touch panel. Optionally, each touch sensing circuit correspondingto Cs1, Cs2, and Cs3 includes a first operational amplifier Gs1. Eachtouch sensing circuit may apply an excitation signal (e.g., a firsttouch excitation signal, a reference sensing signal, a second touchexcitation signal) to a corresponding sensing line of the touch panel,and detect the capacitance values of these touch sensing units. That is,the operation of touch sensing on the touch panel may be performed bythe touch sensing circuit. The excitation signal may be an AlternatingCurrent (AC) voltage.

In a case where the touch sensing unit is of the type ofself-capacitance, as shown in FIG. 3D, in the process of touch sensing,the touch sensing circuit applies touch excitation signals to Cs1, Cs2,and Cs3, respectively. Among them, in a first time period, the touchexcitation signals applied to Cs1, Cs2 and Cs3 may also be called thefirst touch sensing signals. In a second time period, the touchexcitation signal applied to Cs1 may also be called a second touchsensing signal. In a second time period, the touch excitation signalapplied to Cs2 may also be called a touch reference signal.

Optionally, in FIG. 3D, the time period identified by diagonal squaresmay be a time period for non-touch sensing. The time period fornon-touch sensing may be, for example, a display time period or a timeperiod for fingerprint sensing and recognition, or an arbitrary blanktime period. In the time period for non-touch sensing, the touch sensingcircuit does not work, and the touch sensing unit does not work either.As an example, no excitation signal may be applied to the touch sensingunit during this time period. As another example, a direct currentsignal may be applied to the touch sensing unit during this time periodso that the touch sensing line does not interfere with the displaydriving line or the fingerprint sensing line. As another example, ananti-loading driving signal may be applied to the touch sensing unitduring this time period to further reduce interference on variouscircuits integrated into the touch panel. An example of applying theanti-loading driving signal will be further illustrated with referenceto FIG. 6. It will not be repeated here in this disclosure.

As one example, the first touch excitation signal and the second touchexcitation signal are shown in the form of a square wave in FIGS. 3C and3D, and those skilled in the art should understand that the first touchexcitation signal and the second touch excitation signal may also be AC(alternating current) signals of other waveforms (e.g., sine wave,cosine wave, triangle wave, step wave, etc.). The present disclosurealso does not limit the signal amplitude of the first touch excitationsignal, which may be adaptively set according to the touch panel.

As shown in FIG. 3C, the touch sensing circuit may acquire a sensingsignal, as a first touch sensing signal, from a corresponding touchsensing unit to be sensed. Each touch sensing circuit may beelectrically connected with two operation units. Each operation unitincludes an adder (or subtractor) and a second operational amplifier(GS2). Optionally, at step S301, each operation unit obtainsdifferential sensing signals (e.g., differential sensing signal-1 anddifferential sensing signal-2) from two first touch sensing signals, andtherefore each differential sensing signal is associated with thedifference of capacitance values corresponding to two of the pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units.

In some embodiments, the sensing lines in the touch panel are arrangedclose to some noise sources (such as the common electrode of the touchpanel) that provide common-mode noise Vn. Parasitic capacitance Cn isformed between the noise source and these sensing lines, and thecommon-mode noise Vn will affect the voltage level of these sensinglines of the touch panel with the parasitic capacitance Cn. Therefore,the operation of touch sensing by the touch sensing circuit may often beaffected by the common-mode noise Vn. Optionally, the plurality ofoperation units include a first operation unit (for example, the firstoperation unit from top to bottom in FIG. 3C) and a second operationunit (for example, the second operation unit from top to bottom in FIG.3C). The input signals of the first operation unit and the secondoperation unit have a common first touch sensing signal (for example, afirst touch sensing signal corresponding to Cs2). Therefore, through theoperation unit, the outputs of the first amplifiers Gs1 of two adjacentsensing lines may be subtracted to yield one differential sensing signalfrom which the common mode noise component is removed.

With continued reference to FIG. 3C, the first second operationalamplifiers Gs2 output a differential sensing signal-1, the voltage ofwhich may be represented by “Vo1”. Wherein, Vo1 may be calculated by theformula (1) as follows.

Vo 1=Gs 2*[Gs 1*(Vtx*Cs 1+Vn*Cs 1)−Gs 1*(Vtx*Cs 2+Vn*Cs 2)]=Gs 1*Gs2*[(Vtx*Cs 1+Vn*Cs 1)+(Vtx*Cs 2+Vn*Cs 2)]=Vtx*Gs 1*Gs 2*(Cs 1−Cs 2)  (1)

Wherein Vtx represents the voltage of the first touch excitation signal,and for convenience of expression, Gs1 also represents the gain of thefirst operational amplifier Gs1, and Gs2 also represents the gain of thesecond operational amplifier Gs2.

In the same way, the second second amplifier Gs2 outputs a differentialsensing signal-2, the voltage of which may be represented by “Vo2”.Wherein, Vo2=Vtx*Gs1*Gs2*(Cs2−Cs3). It can be seen that the component ofcommon-mode noise Vn is removed.

After step S301, the “difference” between the capacitances correspondingto the plurality of to-sense touch sensing units may be obtained. Forexample, “Vol” is information representing “difference betweencapacitances Cs1 and Cs2 corresponding to the to-sense touch sensingunits”, while “Vo2” is information representing “difference betweencapacitances Cs2 and Cs3 corresponding to to-sense touch sensing units”.

Although FIGS. 3B to 3D take self-capacitance as an example forillustration, it should be understood by those skilled in the art thatthe present disclosure may also be applied to mutual capacitance. Forexample, in the case where the touch sensing unit is of the type ofmutual capacitance, a touch excitation signal may be applied to eachdriving electrode, and a plurality of sensing signals may be obtainedfrom a plurality of sensing electrodes. In this case, the touch sensingcircuit may be divided into two parts: a sub-circuit for applyingexcitation signal and a sub-circuit for touch detection. Furthermore,the respective driving electrodes of all touch sensing units in one rowmay be shared, and the respective sub-circuits for applying excitationsignal may also be shared. Multiple sensing signals may be obtained fromdifferent sensing electrodes through different touch detectionsub-circuits. For example, when applying an excitation signal to a rowof driving electrodes, a plurality of touch sensing signalscorresponding to the excitation signal may be obtained from all sensingelectrodes, and these touch sensing signals may be used as first touchsensing signals. Similar to self-capacitance, a plurality ofdifferential sensing signals may also be obtained from a plurality offirst touch sensing signals, which will not be repeated here in thisdisclosure.

Optionally, referring to FIGS. 3B, 3D to 3F, at step S302 and step S304,in a second time period, the second touch excitation signal is appliedto the preprocessing touch sensing unit and the touch reference signalis applied to the reference touch sensing unit. The first time perioddoes not overlap with the second time period. Among them, FIGS. 3E to 3Fshow equivalent circuits for applying excitation signals to a pair of areference touch sensing unit and a preprocessing touch sensing unit in asecond time period, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The following illustration takes a second touch excitationsignal being applied by a plurality of touch sensing circuits to thepreprocessing touch sensing unit and a touch reference signal beingapplied to the reference touch sensing unit in the second time period asan example, and those skilled in the art should understand that thisdisclosure is not limited thereto.

Optionally, the second touch excitation signal may be a variable signal(for example, a signal with variable frequency or amplitude), and thetouch reference signal may be a direct current signal or anothervariable signal. Optionally, the touch sensing circuit may alsocorrespond to one or more reference touch sensing units. Optionally, thetouch reference signal and the second touch excitation signal have thesame signal waveform. Optionally, the signal waveforms of the touchreference signal and the second touch excitation signal may bedifferent. Optionally, the touch reference signal may be a directcurrent signal. In addition, when the touch reference signal is a directcurrent signal, the present disclosure does not limit the amplitude ofthe touch reference signal.

With continued reference to FIG. 3B, it shows four ways of selecting thereference touch sensing unit and the preprocessing touch sensing unit(shown by reference numerals {circle around (1)} to {circle around(4)}). Wherein, in the second time period, the reference touch sensingunits are shown in gray squares, and the preprocessing touch sensingunits are shown in white squares. Those skilled in the art shouldunderstand that modes {circle around (1)} to {circle around (4)} areonly examples, and the reference touch sensing unit and thepreprocessing touch sensing unit may be selected in other ways, which isnot limited in the present disclosure. Among them, the preprocessingtouch sensing unit identified by the white square is one of a pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units identified by the column filled withdiagonal lines in the first time period.

Mode {circle around (1)} and mode {circle around (2)} show two examplesin which the reference touch sensing unit is in the same column as thetouch sensing unit to be sensed. In this case, optionally, the selectionof at least one of the plurality of touch sensing units as a referencetouch sensing unit further includes: selecting at least one touchsensing unit located in the same column as the plurality of to-sensetouch sensing units from the plurality of touch sensing units as areference touch sensing unit. Optionally, in this case, the selection ofat least one of the plurality of to-sense touch sensing units as apreprocessing touch sensing unit further includes: selecting at leastone to-sense touch sensing units in a different row from the at leastone reference touch sensing unit from the plurality of to-sense touchsensing units as the preprocessing touch sensing unit. As shown in mode{circle around (1)} and mode {circle around (2)}, the reference touchsensing unit is adjacent to the preprocessing touch sensing unit.

Mode {circle around (3)} and mode {circle around (4)} show two examplesin which the reference touch sensing unit and the touch sensing unit tobe sensed are in different columns. In this case, optionally, theselection of at least one of the plurality of touch sensing units as areference touch sensing unit further includes: selecting at least onetouch sensing unit located in a different column from the plurality ofto-sense touch sensing units from the plurality of touch sensing unitsas a reference touch sensing unit. Optionally, mode {circle around (3)}and mode {circle around (4)} show two examples in which the referencetouch sensing unit and the touch sensing unit to be sensed are locatedin the same row. That is, the selection of at least one of the pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units as the preprocessing touch sensing unitfurther includes selecting at least one to-sense touch sensing unit inthe same row as the at least one reference touch sensing unit from theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units as the preprocessing touchsensing unit.

Optionally, in this case, the selection of at least one of the pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units as a preprocessing touch sensing unitmay also include: selecting at least one touch sensing unit to be sensedin a different row from the at least one reference touch sensing unitfrom the plurality of to-sense touch sensing units as the preprocessingtouch sensing unit. As shown in mode {circle around (3)} and mode{circle around (4)}, the reference touch sensing unit is not adjacent tothe preprocessing touch sensing unit. Of course, the reference touchsensing unit and the touch sensing unit to be sensed may also be locatedin different rows and columns, which is not limited in this disclosure.

In addition, other touch sensing units may also be selected as referencetouch sensing units. For example, in some embodiments, for convenienceof calculation, the row where the reference touch sensing units arelocated may be the uppermost row or the lowermost row of the arraycomposed of the plurality of touch sensing units.

Referring to FIGS. 3E and 3F, at step S304, at least one capacitancesensing signal is yielded from at least one reference sensing signal andat least one second touch sensing signal. In FIG. 3E and 3F, Cs1 is theequivalent self-capacitance value corresponding to the preprocessingtouch sensing unit, and Cs2 is the equivalent self-capacitance valuecorresponding to the reference touch sensing unit. Cs3 is the equivalentself-capacitance value corresponding to the touch sensing unit withoutbeing applied any excitation signal in the second time period. Vn is theequivalent noise voltage suffered by the preprocessing touch sensingunit and the reference touch sensing unit (for convenience ofdescription, corresponding noise signals may also be denoted by Vnrespectively). Tx1 is the second touch excitation signal applied to thepreprocessing touch sensing unit Cs1 in the second time period, and Tx2(FIGS. 3F) or DC (FIGS. 3E) is the touch reference signal applied to thetouch sensing unit Cs2 in the second time period.

Although only one pair of reference touch sensing unit and preprocessingtouch sensing unit is shown in FIGS. 3E-3F, it should be understood bythose skilled in the art that this is only for describing theembodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, and actually morepairs of reference touch sensing unit and preprocessing touch sensingunit should be included.

In many cases, the self-capacitance of each touch sensing unit is equal(the areas of the touch pads of the touch electrodes are almost equal).In a case where the touch reference signal is a DC signal, as shown inFIG. 3E, since Cs1=Cs2, the voltage Vcs1 (corresponding to thecapacitance value of Cs1) of the capacitance sensing signal obtainedfrom the reference sensing signal and the second touch sensing signal,may be calculated based on formula (3) as follows.

Vcs 1=Gs 2×Gs 1×(Vx 1×Cs 1+Vn×Cs 1−Vn×Cs 2)  (3)

Vx1 in formula (3) represents the voltage of the second touch excitationsignal Tx1. Since Cs1 is basically equal to Cs2, the value ofVn×Cs1−Vn×Cs2 in formula (3) is 0 or a relatively small value close to0, that is, the noise signal is removed, so that Vcs1 basicallycorresponds to the voltage of Cs1. At this time, Vcs1=Gs×Cs1×Vx1.

In a case where the touch reference signal is a variable signal TX2, asshown in FIG. 3F, since Cs1=Cs2, TX1 and TX2 are the same variablesignals. It may be known from the formula (4) below,

Vcs 1=Gs 2×Gs 1×(Vx 1×Cs 1+Vn×Cs 1−Vx 2×Cs 2−Vn×Cs 2)  (4)

In formula (4), Vx1 represents the voltage of the second touchexcitation signal TX1, and Vx2 represents the voltage of the touchreference signal TX2. Since Cs1 is basically equal to Cs2, the value ofVn×Cs1−Vn×Cs2 in formula (4) is 0 or a relatively small value close to0, that is, the noise signal is removed, so that Vcs1 only needs thevoltage difference corresponding to the voltage of the second touchsensing signal and the voltage of the reference sensing signal. At thistime, Vcs1=Gs2×Gs1×Cs1×(Vx1−Vx2). With Vx1−Vx2, the range of Vcs1 may bedynamically adjusted.

Then, at step S305, the capacitance values of a plurality of to-sensetouch sensing units may be yielded according to the plurality ofdifferential sensing signals and the at least one capacitance sensingsignal described above. Each of the capacitance values of the pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units has noise removed. Thus, it may bedetermined whether touch occurs in the first time period.

As described above, the “differences” between a plurality ofcapacitances are obtained at step S301. For example, the information ofthe difference between Cs1 and Cs2 corresponding to the to-sense touchsensing units, and the information of the difference between theto-sense touch sensing units Cs2 and Cs3. At step S304, the informationof the capacitance corresponding to Cs1, which is the preprocessingtouch sensing unit, is obtained. Based on the information of thedifference between Cs1 and Cs2 corresponding to the to-sense touchsensing units as well as the information of the capacitance of Cs1corresponding to the pre-processed touch sensing unit, the informationof the capacitance corresponding to the to-sense touch sensing unit Cs2may be determined. Based on the information of the difference betweenCs2 and Cs3 corresponding to the to-sense touch sensing units as well asthe information of the capacitance corresponding to the to-sense touchsensing unit Cs2, the information of the capacitance corresponding tothe to-sense touch sensing unit Cs3 may be determined.

In a similar fashion, the information of the capacitances correspondingto all to-sense touch sensing units at step S301 may be obtained, andnone of the information contains noise, which may significantly reducethe influence of noise caused by display, fingerprint recognizing andother operations on touch sensing of the touch panel, thereby making iteasier to determine whether touch occurs.

Another touch sensing method for a touch panel according to anembodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail belowwith reference to FIGS. 4A-4E.

FIG. 4A shows a schematic flowchart of a touch sensing method 400 for atouch panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Thistouch sensing method may be used in the touch sensing apparatus shown inFIG. 1. In method 400, the to-sense touch sensing units and thereference touch sensing unit work simultaneously.

As shown in FIG. 4A, at step S401, a portion of the touch sensing unitsare selected as a plurality of to-sense touch sensing units and at leastone of the touch sensing units is selected as the reference touchsensing unit. At step S402, touch excitation signals are applied to theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units to obtain a plurality of firsttouch sensing signals, and touch reference signals are applied to atleast one of the reference touch sensing units to obtain at least onereference sensing signal. At step S403, a plurality of differentialsensing signals are obtained from the plurality of first touch sensingsignals. At step S404, at least one of the plurality of first touchsensing signals is selected as at least one second touch sensing signal.At step S405, at least one capacitance sensing signal is obtained fromthe at least one second touch sensing signal and the at least onereference sensing signal. At step S406, the capacitance values of theplurality of touch sensing units are acquired according to the pluralityof differential sensing signals and the at least one capacitance sensingsignal.

The above steps are further described below with reference to FIGS. 4Bto 4F. Optionally, each touch sensing circuit has a corresponding touchsensing unit for sensing a touch occurring on it and outputting a touchsignal. For example, when a user's finger or pen touches or approachesthe touch sensing unit, the touch sensing circuit may sense thecapacitance change at the touch sensing unit, so that the touch sensingcircuit may output a touch sensing signal indicating the change to thesubsequent corresponding operation unit.

Optionally, the plurality of touch sensing units may be a plurality oftouch sensing units arranged in an array. For example, referring to FIG.4B, it shows five ways of selecting the to-sense touch sensing unit andthe reference touch sensing unit (shown by reference numerals {circlearound (1)} to {circle around (5)}). Among them, the reference touchsensing units are shown in gray squares, and a plurality of to-sensetouch sensing units in one column are shown in squares filled withdiagonal lines. Those skilled in the art should understand that modes{circle around (1)} to {circle around (5)} are only examples, and thereference touch sensing unit and the to-sense touch sensing unit may beselected in other ways, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

Therefore, optionally, at step S401, the selection of a portion of theplurality of touch sensing units as a plurality of to-sense touchsensing units further includes: selecting touch sensing units located inthe same column from the plurality of touch sensing units as a pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units. In FIG. 4B, the columns filled withdiagonal lines show the touch sensing units of the same column, andoptionally, each touch sensing unit in the column is selected as theto-sense touch sensing unit. In a first time period, each touch sensingunit in the column is applied with a first touch sensing signal. In thiscolumn, a differential sensing signal may be obtained from the firsttouch sensing signals corresponding to every two touch sensing units. InFIG. 4B, a reference touch sensing unit identified by a gray square isapplied with a touch reference signal in a second time period. Thesecond time period and the first time period have an overlapping part.

Optionally, referring to modes {circle around (1)} to {circle around(3)}, the selection of at least one of the plurality of touch sensingunits as a reference touch sensing unit further includes: selecting atleast one touch sensing unit located in a different column from theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units from the plurality of touchsensing units as the reference touch sensing unit. As shown in mode{circle around (1)} and mode {circle around (2)}, the reference touchsensing unit is adjacent to the to-sense touch sensing units. As shownin mode {circle around (3)}, the reference touch sensing unit is notadjacent to the to-sense touch sensing units.

Optionally, referring to mode {circle around (4)} to {circle around(5)}, the selection of at least one of the plurality of touch sensingunits as a reference touch sensing unit further includes: selecting atleast one touch sensing unit located in the same column as the pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units from the plurality of touch sensingunits as the reference touch sensing unit. As shown in mode {circlearound (4)} to {circle around (5)}, the reference touch sensing unit isadjacent to the touch sensing unit to be sensed. Those skilled in theart should understand that FIG. 4B is only an example, and thearrangement form of the to-sense touch sensing units and the referencetouch sensing unit may be set in other ways, which is not limited inthis disclosure. In mode {circle around (4)} and mode {circle around(5)}, although the row in which the reference touch sensing unit islocated is the uppermost row or the lowermost row of the array composedof the plurality of touch sensing units, those skilled in the art shouldunderstand that this disclosure is not limited thereto. Since thereference touch sensing unit and the to-sense touch sensing unit areapplied with the first touch sensing signal and the touch referencesignal respectively at the same time, the capacitance value at thereference touch sensing unit is not detected. How to acquire thedifferential sensing signal, the second touch sensing signal and thecapacitance sensing signal will be further illustrated with reference toFIGS. 4C to 4E.

FIG. 4C shows an equivalent circuit for applying excitation signals to 8to-sense touch sensing units in the first first time period according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4D shows an equivalentcircuit for applying excitation signals to 8 to-sense touch sensingunits in the second first time period according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. FIG. 4E shows a timing chart when performing touchsensing on 8 to-sense touch sensing units according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. FIG. 4C to 4E are only examples to facilitateillustration, and those skilled in the art should understand that thetouch panel may include more or less touch sensing units, and theirtiming may also be set correspondingly, which is not limited in thisdisclosure.

Optionally, touch excitation signals are applied to the plurality oftouch excitation units in a first time period. A touch reference signalis applied to the reference touch sensing unit in a second time period.Among them, there exists an overlapping interval between the first timeperiod and the second time period. Of course, the first time period mayalso completely overlap with the second time period, which is notlimited in this disclosure.

Optionally, referring to FIGS. 4C and 4E, at step S402, touch excitationsignals are applied to 4 to-sense touch sensing units (Cs1 to Cs4) inthe first first time period to yield a plurality of first touch sensingsignals, and a touch reference signal is applied to the reference touchsensing unit Cs5 in a second time period which overlaps with the firstfirst time period to yield a reference sensing signal. At this time, thereference touch sensing unit Cs5 only detects noise.

At step S403, a plurality of differential sensing signals (Vo1 to Vo4)are obtained from the plurality of first touch sensing signals. Amongthem, each differential sensing signal is associated with the differenceof capacitance values corresponding to two of the to-sense touch sensingunits. The process of acquiring the differential sensing signals (Vol toVo4) at step S403 is similar to step S301 in method 300, and will not bedescribed repeatedly here.

Then, at step S404, at least one of the plurality of first touch sensingsignals is selected as at least one second touch sensing signal. Forexample, in FIG. 4C, the first touch sensing signal corresponding to Cs4is selected as the second touch sensing signal. At step S405, thecapacitance sensing signal corresponding to Cs4 may be yielded from thesecond touch sensing signal corresponding to Cs4 and the referencesensing signal corresponding to Cs5. The capacitance sensing signal isassociated with the capacitance value corresponding to the to-sensetouch sensing unit which corresponds to the second touch sensing signal(i.e., Cs4). The way of acquiring the capacitance sensing signal at stepS405 is similar to step S304 in method 300, and will not be describedrepeatedly here.

Although in FIG. 4C, the to-sense touch sensing unit Cs4 correspondingto the second touch sensing signal and the reference touch sensing unitCs5 are in different rows, it may be understood by those skilled in theart that they may also be in the same row for convenience ofcalculation. Although in FIG. 4C, the reference touch sensing unit Cs5and the to-sense touch sensing unit Cs4 corresponding to the secondtouch sensing signal are not adjacent, it may be understood by thoseskilled in the art that they may also be adjacent for convenience ofcalculation. Optionally, the row in which the reference touch sensingunit is located may also be the uppermost row or the lowermost row ofthe array composed of the plurality of touch sensing units, which is notlimited in this disclosure.

Then, at step S405, capacitance values of a plurality of touch sensingunits (Cs1 to Cs4) are obtained according to the plurality ofdifferential sensing signals (Vo1 to Vo4) and the capacitance sensingsignal (corresponding to Cs4). Similar to method 300, step S405 issimilar to step S305, which may derive the capacitance information ofCs1 to Cs4 by the difference information between Cs1 and Cs2, thedifference information between Cs2 and Cs3, the difference informationbetween Cs3 and Cs4, and the capacitance information of Cs4.

With reference to FIGS. 4D and 4E, touch excitation signals are appliedto 4 to-sense touch sensing units (Cs5 to Cs8) to obtain a plurality offirst touch sensing signals in the second first time period, and a touchreference signal is applied to the reference touch sensing unit Cs1 in asecond time period, which overlaps with the second first time period toobtain reference sensing signals. At this time, the reference touchsensing unit Cs1 is only used for noise detection. Then, at least one ofthe plurality of first touch sensing signals is selected as at least onesecond touch sensing signal. For example, in FIG. 4D, the first touchsensing signal corresponding to Cs8 is selected as the second touchsensing signal. The capacitance sensing signal corresponding to Cs8 maybe yielded from the second touch sensing signal corresponding to Cs8 andthe reference sensing signal corresponding to Cs1. The capacitancesensing signal is associated with the capacitance value corresponding tothe to-sense touch sensing unit which corresponds to the second touchsensing signal (i.e., Cs8). Similarly to the above process, thecapacitance values of the plurality of touch sensing units (Cs5 to Cs8)may be acquired.

Therefore, in method 400, the to-sense touch sensing unit and thereference touch sensing unit may work at the same time to reduce theinfluence of noise caused by displaying, fingerprint recognizing, andother operations on the touch sensing of the touch panel.

The positional relationship between the touch sensing unit correspondingto the second touch sensing signal and the touch sensing unitcorresponding to the reference sensing signal according to an embodimentof the present disclosure will be described in detail below withreference to FIG. 5. The positional relationship shown in FIG. 5 may beused in method 300 as well as used in method 400. For the convenience ofunderstanding, in FIG. 5, the touch sensing units corresponding to thesecond touch sensing signals are identified with white squares asbefore; the touch sensing units corresponding to the reference sensingsignals are identified with gray squares.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of touch sensing circuitsmay be selectively configured into different types of touch sensingcircuits according to different configuration modes. For example, thetouch sensing unit corresponding to the second touch sensing signal andthe touch sensing unit corresponding to the reference sensing signal maybe in the mode of all-to-one (shown as case one), one-to-one, andseveral-to-one (shown as case three). The correspondence in FIG. 5 isshown by a double-headed arrow. Generally, the number of touch sensingunits corresponding to the second touch sensing signal is greater thanor equal to the number of touch sensing units corresponding to thereference sensing signal, and this disclosure is not limited thereto.

For example, referring to cases one and three, in the case of all-to-oneand several-to-one, the amount of the at least one reference sensingsignal is a first number, and the amount of the at least one secondtouch sensing signal is a second number. The second number is the firstnumber multiplied by a third number. For example, in case one, theamount of reference sensing signals is 1, the amount of second touchsensing signals is 4, and the third number is 4. In case three, theamount of reference sensing signals is 2, the amount of second touchsensing signals is 4, and the third number is 2.

At this time, the at least one reference sensing signal and the at leastone second touch sensing signal are grouped into a first number ofsignal combinations, each signal combination includes one said referencesensing signal and a third number of said second touch sensing signals,and each signal combination yields a third number of said capacitancesensing signals. For example, in case one, 1 reference sensing signaland 4 second touch sensing signals form 1 signal combination. The signalcombination includes 1 reference sensing signal and 4 second touchsensing signals, and yields 4 capacitance sensing signals. In casethree, 2 reference sensing signals and 4 second touch sensing signalsform 2 signal combinations, each signal combination including 1reference sensing signal and 2 second touch sensing signals, and 2capacitance sensing signals are generated.

For another example, in a one-to-one case, the amount of the at leastone reference sensing signal is a first number, and the amount of the atleast one second touch sensing signal is a second number, which is equalto the first number. For example, in case two, the number of a portionof reference sensing signals is 2, and the number of a portion of secondtouch sensing signals is 2. 2 reference sensing signals and 2 secondtouch sensing signals are grouped into 2 signal combinations, eachsignal combination including one reference sensing signal and one secondtouch sensing signal, and each signal combination generating onecapacitance sensing signal.

It should be understood that according to the specific configuration,one touch sensing circuit may correspond to one reference touch sensingunit to process reference sensing signals, and may also correspond toanother to-sense touch sensing unit to process first touch sensingsignals, and may also correspond to a preprocessing touch sensing unitto process second touch sensing signals. That is, the touch sensingcircuit and the touch sensing unit may correspond in various ways aslong as they may realize touch sensing of all the touch sensing unitsthrough timing control or the like.

Next, an anti-loading driving signal according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be further illustrated with reference to FIG. 6.Optionally, an anti-loading driving signal may be applied to othernon-touch sensing lines in a period of touch sensing. For example, theanti-loading drive signal can be applied to the gate line or the dataline. Optionally, the anti-loading driving signal may also be applied asTX3 on any inactive touch sensing line in the second time period shownin FIG. 3D, for example, the touch sensing line corresponding to Cs3 inFIG. 3F.

An anti-loading driving signal essentially the same as the excitationsignal that drives the fingerprint recognition unit/display unit. Asshown in FIG. 1, the touch-and-display panel 200 is integrated with atouch panel 210 and a display panel 220. Optionally, thetouch-and-display panel may further be integrated with a fingerprintrecognizing panel, on which a fingerprint recognizing unit is arranged.Since the display panel 220, the touch panel 210, and the fingerprintrecognizing panel have overlapping areas, the fingerprint recognizingoperation, the touch sensing operation, and the display drivingoperation may interfere with each other. For example, since the displaypanel 220, the touch panel 210 and the fingerprint recognizing panel areclose to each other, there exists a coupling capacitance that cannot beignored between each wire connecting the touch sensing unit and eachwire connecting the fingerprint sensing unit. By applying ananti-loading drive signal, the fingerprint recognition operation ordisplay operation can be made independent of the coupling capacitance,further reducing the interference between the individual circuitsintegrated in this touch panel.

Correspondingly, the embodiments of the present disclosure also providea touch sensing apparatus for the touch panel. FIGS. 7A-7B showschematic diagrams of a touch sensing apparatus 700 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. The touch sensing apparatus 700has a structure similar to that of the touch sensing apparatus 100described with reference to FIG. 1, except that more details are shown.The touch sensing apparatus 700 will be described in more detail below.

The touch sensing apparatus 700 performs sensing on a plurality of touchsensing units 210_1˜210_M included in a touch panel 210, where M is apositive integer.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the touch sensingapparatus 700 may include a plurality of touch sensing circuits(710_1˜710_N) and a plurality of operation units (712_1˜712_N) in aone-to-one correspondence, and N is a positive integer. Each touchsensing circuit has corresponding touch sensing unit (or units). Forexample, each touch sensing circuit corresponds to one touch sensingunit, or corresponds to multiple touch sensing units.

When a touch sensing circuit is selected to apply a first touchexcitation signal or a second touch excitation signal to a touch sensingunit, a first terminal of the touch sensing circuit (for example thetouch sensing circuit-2 in FIG. 7B) is configured to receive the touchexcitation signal (TX1), and a second terminal thereof is configured toapply the touch excitation signal (TX1) to a corresponding touch sensingunit and receive a touch sensing signal from the corresponding touchsensing unit, and an output terminal thereof outputs a first outputsignal.

When a touch sensing circuit is selected to apply a touch referencesignal to a touch sensing unit, a first terminal of the touch sensingcircuit receives the touch reference signal (DC/TX2), and a secondterminal thereof applies the touch reference signal (DC/TX2) to acorresponding touch sensing unit and receives a reference sensing signalfrom the corresponding touch sensing unit, and an output terminalthereof outputs a second output signal, where the touch reference signal(DC/TX2) and the touch excitation signal (TX1) are different signals.

For example, the touch excitation signal is a first variable signal (forexample, a signal with variable amplitude and/or frequency), and thetouch reference signal is a direct current signal or a second variablesignal different from the first variable signal.

For the selection of the touch excitation signal and the touch referencesignal, when the touch excitation signal is the first variable signaland the touch reference signal is a direct current signal, the secondoutput signal output by the touch sensing circuit-1 only includes anoise signal, while the first output signal output by the touch sensingcircuit-2 includes a noise signal and a first touch signal. Therefore,as will be described later, when the operation unit corresponding to thetouch sensing circuit-2 performs subtraction on the first output signaland the second output signal, the signal output by the operation unitonly includes the first touch signal. When the touch excitation signalis the first variable signal and the touch reference signal is thesecond variable signal, the second output signal output by the touchsensing circuit-1 includes a noise signal and a second touch signal,while the first output signal output by the touch sensing circuit-2includes a noise signal and the first touch signal. Therefore, as willbe described later, when the operation unit corresponding to the touchsensing circuit-2 performs subtraction on the first output signal andthe second output signal, the signal output by the operation unit is thedifferential signal between the voltage, current signal corresponding tothe first touch signal and the voltage, current signal corresponding tothe second touch signal. At the same time, setting the second variablesignal to be different from the first variable signal may be bettersuited to situations where the self-capacitance values of the touchsensing units are unequal. This has been described in detail in thecontent described with reference to FIGS. 3-5, so it will not berepeated here.

Touch sensing circuit-2 or touch sensing circuit-1 may correspond to onetouch sensing unit, or may correspond to multiple touch sensing units ofthe same number. For example, each touch sensing circuit-2 maycorrespond to only one touch sensing unit (that is, apply the touchexcitation signal to the one touch sensing unit and obtain the touchsensing signal from it), and the touch sensing circuit-1 correspondingto the touch sensing circuit-2 may correspond to another touch sensingunit. For example, each touch sensing circuit-2 may correspond to thetouch sensing units on the same row or column, and correspondingly, thetouch sensing circuit-1 corresponding to the touch sensing circuit-2 maycorrespond to the touch sensing units on another row or column.

Therefore, in this case, FIG. 7B shows more details of the touch sensingcircuits (a pair) and the operation units. As shown in FIG. 7B, thetouch sensing circuit-2 includes a buffer (BUF1) and a first group ofswitches (S1_1 . . . S1_P), and the touch sensing circuit-1 includes abuffer (BUF2) and a second group of switches (S2_1 . . . S2_P), thenumber of switches in the first group of switches being the same as thenumber of switches in the second group of switches. First terminals ofthe switches in the first group of switches are all connected to asecond terminal of the buffer of the same touch sensing circuit-2, andsecond terminals of the switches in the first group of switches arerespectively connected to respective touch sensing units correspondingto the touch sensing circuit-2 in a one-to one manner, and a firstterminal and an output terminal of the buffer of the touch sensingcircuit-2 respectively serve as a first terminal and an output terminalof the touch sensing circuit-2. First terminals of the switches in thesecond group of switches are all connected to a second terminal of thebuffer of the same touch sensing circuit-1, and second terminals of theswitches in the second group of switches are respectively connected torespective touch sensing units corresponding to the touch sensingcircuit-1 in a one-to one manner, and a first terminal and an outputterminal of the buffer of the touch sensing circuit-1 respectively serveas a first terminal and an output terminal of the touch sensingcircuit-1.

The simultaneous or sequential application of the touch excitationsignal or touch reference signal to respective touch sensing units andsimultaneous or sequential reception of sensing signals may be realizedby simultaneously or sequentially performing switch control onrespective switches in the first group or the second group of switches.

The plurality of operation units (712_1˜712_N) are configured tocalculate, according to the first number of first output signals and thesecond number of second output signals, a differential signal betweenthe output signals of each touch sensing circuit-2 and the correspondingtouch sensing circuit-1, the differential signal being associated with acapacitance difference sensed by the touch sensing circuit-2 and thecorresponding touch sensing circuit-1.

For example, a touch sensing circuit-2 provides a first output signal toone corresponding operation unit, and a touch sensing circuit-1corresponding to the touch sensing circuit-2 will also provide a secondoutput signal to one operation unit corresponding to the touch sensingcircuit-1 and to the operation unit corresponding to the touch sensingcircuit-2. The operation unit corresponding to the touch sensingcircuit-2 performs subtraction on the first output signal and the secondoutput signal to obtain the differential signal. The value of thedifferential signal is associated with the capacitance difference sensedby the touch sensing circuit-2 and the corresponding touch sensingcircuit-1, so the differential signal may be used to obtain thecapacitance difference, as the operations performed by the digitalprocessing units and subsequent controller as described in the context.

As mentioned above, in some cases, for each pair of the touch sensingcircuit-2 and the touch sensing circuit-1, the areas of contact pads ofthe touch electrodes of their respective touch sensing units may not beequal, so it is necessary for the operation unit corresponding to thetouch sensing circuit-2 to multiply the second output signal output bythe corresponding touch sensing circuit-1 by a preset coefficient, andperform the subtraction on the first output signal and the second outputsignal multiplied by the preset coefficient, to obtain the differentialsignal, where, as mentioned above, the preset coefficient is related tothe ratio between the areas of the contact pads of the touch electrodesof the touch sensing units respectively corresponding to the touchsensing circuit-2 and the corresponding touch sensing circuit-1.

In addition, when the touch excitation signal received by the touchsensing circuit-2 and the touch reference signal received by thecorresponding touch sensing circuit-1 are two variable signals with samephases but different amplitudes, the ratio of the amplitudes of the twovariable signals is related to the ratio between the areas of thecontact pads of the touch electrodes of the touch sensing unitsrespectively corresponding to the touch sensing circuit-2 and thecorresponding touch sensing circuit-1.

For example, the first output signal and the second output signal may bevoltage signals. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7B, each operation unitincludes a subtractor circuit, and two input terminals of the subtractorcircuit receive the first output signal output by the touch sensingcircuit-2 and the second output signal output by the corresponding touchsensing circuit-1 for subtraction, so as to output the differentialsignal. The value of the differential signal is equal to the differencebetween the value of the first output signal and the value of the secondoutput signal.

For another example, the first output signal and the second outputsignal may be current signals. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7B, eachoperation unit includes a current mirror circuit, and an input terminalof the current mirror circuit receives the second output signal and getsthe second output signal with negative polarity. An output terminal ofthe current mirror circuit superposes the first output signal with thesecond output signal with negative polarity and outputs it.

Similarly, in some embodiments, since the signals output by theoperation units are all analog signals, the signals are converted intodigital signals. Those digital signals are provided by the touch sensingapparatus 700 to a subsequent controller or the like for processing, todetermine the capacitance difference sensed by each pair of touchsensing circuits, and then determine the touch position.

Therefore, the touch sensing apparatus 700 also includes a plurality ofdigital processing units (714_1˜714_N) corresponding to the plurality oftouch sensing circuits (710_1˜710_N) and the plurality of operationunits (712_1˜712_N) in one-to-one correspondence, which are used todigitally process the signals output by the operation units, and finallyoutput digital signals DATA1˜DATAN.

Each digital processing unit may be used to perform, for example,analog-to-digital conversion and other digital processing, so it mayinclude, for example, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digitalback-end (DBE) circuit (the digital back-end circuit includes a digitalprocessing circuit with related specific functions, the digital back-endcircuit may also be omitted, which is not limited in this disclosure).

Similarly, in order to eliminate residual noise introduced in thefollowing digital processing process, the touch sensing apparatus 700may also be configured as follows.

For each pair of the touch sensing circuit-2 and the touch sensingcircuit-1, the operation unit corresponding to the touch sensingcircuit-1 is used to obtain an residual noise signal based on the touchsensing circuit-1, and the digital processing unit corresponding to thetouch sensing circuit-1 processes the residual noise signal into a firstdigital signal; and the operation unit corresponding to the touchsensing circuit-2 is used to obtain the first output signal output bythe touch sensing circuit-2 and the second output signal output by thecorresponding touch sensing circuit-1, and obtain the differentialsignal by calculation, and the digital processing unit corresponding tothe touch sensing circuit-2 processes the differential signal into asecond digital signal.

The second digital signal and the first digital signal are provided to acontroller, and the controller may perform subtraction on the twodigital signals to obtain a difference digital signal. The differencedigital signal no longer includes the residual noise and is associatedwith the capacitance difference sensed by the touch sensing circuit-2and the corresponding touch sensing circuit-1.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is alsoprovided an electronic device including a touch panel, a touch sensingapparatus, and a controller. The touch panel includes a plurality oftouch sensing units. The touch sensing apparatus may be the touchsensing apparatus 700 described with reference to FIGS. 7A-7B. Thecontroller determines the touch position based on the signals providedfrom the touch sensing apparatus, for example, based on digital signals,determines a plurality of capacitance differences sensed by respectivepairs of touch sensing circuits in the touch sensing apparatus, so as todetermine the touch position based on respective capacitancedifferences.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the aboveembodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyonewith ordinary knowledge in the relevant technical field may make somechanges and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the presentinvention shall be subject to those defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch sensing method for a touch panel, thetouch panel including a plurality of touch sensing units, the touchsensing method including: selecting a portion of the plurality of touchsensing units as a plurality of to-sense touch sensing units, applyingfirst touch excitation signals to the plurality of to-sense touchsensing units to obtain a plurality of first touch sensing signals, andobtaining a plurality of differential sensing signals from the pluralityof first touch sensing signals; selecting at least one of the pluralityof touch sensing units as a reference touch sensing unit, and applying atouch reference signal to the reference touch sensing unit to obtain atleast one reference sensing signal; selecting at least one of theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units as a preprocessing touchsensing unit, and applying a second touch excitation signal to thepreprocessing touch sensing unit to obtain at least one second touchsensing signal; obtaining at least one capacitance sensing signal fromthe at least one reference sensing signal and the at least one secondtouch sensing signal; and acquiring capacitance values of the pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units according to the plurality ofdifferential sensing signals and the at least one capacitance sensingsignal.
 2. The touch sensing method according to claim 1, wherein, thefirst touch excitation signals are applied to the plurality of to-sensetouch sensing units in a first time period; the second touch excitationsignal is applied to the preprocessing touch sensing unit and the touchreference signal is applied to the reference touch sensing unit in asecond time period; wherein the first time period does not overlap withthe second time period.
 3. The touch sensing method according to claim1, wherein, each differential sensing signal is associated with adifference of capacitance values corresponding to two of the pluralityof to-sense touch sensing units; the capacitance sensing signal isassociated with a capacitance value corresponding to the preprocessingtouch sensing unit.
 4. The touch sensing method according to claim 1,wherein the plurality of touch sensing units are a plurality of touchsensing units arranged in an array, wherein, the selecting a portion ofthe plurality of touch sensing units as a plurality of to-sense touchsensing units further includes: selecting touch sensing units located inthe same column from the plurality of touch sensing units as theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units; the selecting at least one ofthe plurality of touch sensing units as a reference touch sensing unitfurther includes: selecting, from the plurality of touch sensing units,at least one touch sensing unit located in a different column from theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units as a reference touch sensingunit.
 5. The touch sensing method according to claim 1, wherein theplurality of touch sensing units are a plurality of touch sensing unitsarranged in an array, wherein, the selecting a portion of the pluralityof touch sensing units as a plurality of to-sense touch sensing unitsfurther includes: selecting touch sensing units located in the samecolumn from the plurality of touch sensing units as a plurality ofto-sense touch sensing units; the selecting at least one of theplurality of touch sensing units as a reference touch sensing unitfurther includes: selecting, from the plurality of touch sensing units,at least one touch sensing unit located in the same column as theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units as a reference touch sensingunit.
 6. The touch sensing method according to claim 4, wherein theselecting at least one of the plurality of to-sense touch sensing unitsas a preprocessing touch sensing unit further includes: selecting, fromthe plurality of to-sense touch sensing units, at least one to-sensetouch sensing unit in the same row as the at least one reference touchsensing unit as the preprocessing touch sensing unit.
 7. The touchsensing method according to claim 4, wherein selecting at least one ofthe plurality of to-sense touch sensing units as a preprocessing touchsensing unit further includes: selecting, from the plurality of to-sensetouch sensing units, at least one to-sense touch sensing unit in adifferent row from the at least one reference touch sensing unit as thepreprocessing touch sensing unit.
 8. The touch sensing method accordingto claim 1, wherein the reference touch sensing unit is adjacent to thepreprocessing touch sensing unit, or the reference touch sensing unit isnot adjacent to the preprocessing touch sensing unit, or the row wherethe reference touch sensing unit is located is the uppermost row or thelowermost row of the array composed of the plurality of touch sensingunits.
 9. The touch sensing method according to claim 1, wherein theamount of the at least one reference sensing signal is a first number,and the amount of the at least one second touch sensing signal is asecond number, the second number is equal to the first number; the atleast one reference sensing signal and the at least one second touchsensing signal are grouped into a first number of signal combinations,each signal combination includes one reference sensing signal and onesecond touch sensing signal, and each signal combination yields onecapacitance sensing signal.
 10. The touch sensing method according toclaim 1, wherein the amount of the at least one reference sensing signalis a first number, and the amount of the at least one second touchsensing signal is a second number, the second number is equal to thefirst number multiplied by a third number; the at least one referencesensing signal and the at least one second touch sensing signal aregrouped into a first number of signal combinations, each signalcombination includes one reference sensing signal and the third numberof the second touch sensing signals, and each signal combination yieldsthe third number of the capacitance sensing signals.
 11. The touchsensing method according to claim 1, wherein the touch reference signaland the second touch excitation signal have the same signal waveform, orthe touch reference signal and the second touch excitation signal havedifferent signal waveforms, or the touch reference signal is a directcurrent signal.
 12. The touch sensing method according to claim 1,wherein the touch sensing unit is a self-capacitance touch sensing unit,wherein the first touch excitation signal, the second touch excitationsignal, or the touch reference signal is applied to the touch sensingunit through the touch sensing circuit, and the touch sensing circuitincludes a first operational amplifier.
 13. The touch sensing methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the touch sensing unit is amutual-capacitance touch sensing unit, wherein the first touchexcitation signal, the second touch excitation signal, or the touchreference signal is applied to a first electrode of the touch sensingunit through the touch sensing circuit, and the touch sensing circuitincludes a first operational amplifier.
 14. The touch sensing methodaccording to claim 1, wherein, a plurality of differential sensingsignals are obtained from the plurality of first touch sensing signalsby a plurality of operation units, or at least one capacitance sensingsignal is obtained from the at least one reference sensing signal andthe at least one second touch sensing signal by an operation unit,wherein the plurality of operation units include a first operation unitand a second operation unit, input signals of the first operation unitand input signals of the second operation unit have one common firsttouch sensing signal.
 15. A touch sensing method for a touch panel, thetouch panel including a plurality of touch sensing units, the touchsensing method including: selecting a portion of the plurality of touchsensing units as a plurality of to-sense touch sensing units andselecting at least one of the plurality of touch sensing units as areference touch sensing unit; applying touch excitation signals to theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units to obtain a plurality of firsttouch sensing signals, and applying a touch reference signal to at leastone reference touch sensing unit to obtain at least one referencesensing signal; obtaining a plurality of differential sensing signalsfrom the plurality of first touch sensing signals; selecting at leastone of the plurality of first touch sensing signals as at least onesecond touch sensing signal; obtaining at least one capacitance sensingsignal from the at least one second touch sensing signal and the atleast one reference sensing signal; and acquiring capacitance values ofthe plurality of touch sensing units, according to the plurality ofdifferential sensing signals and the at least one capacitance sensingsignal.
 16. The touch sensing method according to claim 15, wherein, thetouch excitation signals are applied to the plurality of to-sense touchsensing units in a first time period; the touch reference signal isapplied to the at least one reference touch sensing unit in a secondtime period; wherein there exists an overlapping interval between thefirst time period and the second time period.
 17. The touch sensingmethod according to claim 15, wherein, each differential sensing signalis associated with a difference of capacitance values corresponding totwo of the plurality of to-sense touch sensing units; the capacitancesensing signal is associated with the capacitance value corresponding tothe to-sense touch sensing unit which corresponds to the second touchsensing signal.
 18. The touch sensing method according to claim 15,wherein the plurality of touch sensing units are a plurality of touchsensing units arranged in an array, the selecting a portion of theplurality of touch sensing units as a plurality of to-sense touchsensing units further includes: selecting touch sensing units located inthe same column from the plurality of touch sensing units as theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units; the selecting at least one ofthe plurality of touch sensing units as a reference touch sensing unitfurther includes: selecting, from the plurality of touch sensing units,at least one touch sensing unit located in a different column from theplurality of to-sense touch sensing units as the reference touch sensingunit.
 19. The touch sensing method according to claim 15, wherein theplurality of touch sensing units are a plurality of touch sensing unitsarranged in an array, the selecting a portion of the plurality of touchsensing units as a plurality of to-sense touch sensing units furtherincludes: selecting touch sensing units located in the same column fromthe plurality of touch sensing units as a plurality of to-sense touchsensing units; the selecting at least one of the plurality of touchsensing units as a reference touch sensing unit further includes:selecting, from the plurality of touch sensing units, at least one touchsensing unit located in the same column as the plurality of to-sensetouch sensing units as a reference touch sensing unit.
 20. The touchsensing method according to claim 15, wherein the to-sense touch sensingunit corresponding to the second touch sensing signal is in the same rowas the reference touch sensing unit, or wherein the to-sense touchsensing unit corresponding to the second touch sensing signal is in adifferent row from the reference touch sensing unit.
 21. The touchsensing method according to claim 15, wherein the reference touchsensing unit is adjacent to the to-sense touch sensing unitcorresponding to the second touch sensing signal, or the reference touchsensing unit is not adjacent to the to-sense touch sensing unitcorresponding to the second touch sensing signal, or the row where thereference touch sensing unit is located is the uppermost row or thelowermost row of the array composed of the plurality of touch sensingunits.
 22. The touch sensing method according to claim 15, wherein theamount of the at least one reference sensing signal is a first number,and the amount of the at least one second touch sensing signal is asecond number, the second number is equal to the first number; the atleast one reference sensing signal and the at least one second touchsensing signal are grouped into a first number of signal combinations,each signal combination includes one reference sensing signal and onesecond touch sensing signal, and each signal combination yields onecapacitance sensing signal.
 23. The touch sensing method according toclaim 15, wherein the amount of the at least one reference sensingsignal is a first number, and the amount of the at least one secondtouch sensing signal is a second number, the second number is equal tothe first number multiplied by a third number; the at least onereference sensing signal and the at least one second touch sensingsignal are grouped into a first number of signal combinations, eachsignal combination includes one said reference sensing signal and athird number of said second touch sensing signals, and each signalcombination yields a third number of said capacitance sensing signals.24. The touch sensing method according to claim 15, wherein the touchreference signal and the touch excitation signal have the same signalwaveform, or the touch reference signal and the touch excitation signalhave different signal waveforms, or the touch reference signal is adirect current signal.
 25. The touch sensing method according to claim15, wherein the touch sensing unit is a self-capacitance touch sensingunit, wherein the first touch excitation signal, the second touchexcitation signal, or the touch reference signal is applied to the touchsensing unit through the touch sensing circuit, and the touch sensingcircuit includes a first operational amplifier.
 26. The touch sensingmethod according to claim 15, wherein the touch sensing unit is amutual-capacitance touch sensing unit, wherein the first touchexcitation signal, the second touch excitation signal, or the touchreference signal is applied to a first electrode of the touch sensingunit through the touch sensing circuit, and the touch sensing circuitincludes a first operational amplifier.
 27. The touch sensing methodaccording to claim 15, wherein a plurality of differential sensingsignals are obtained from the plurality of first touch sensing signalsby a plurality of operation units, or at least one capacitance sensingsignal is obtained from the at least one reference sensing signal andthe at least one second touch sensing signal by an operation unit,wherein the plurality of operation units include a first operation unitand a second operation unit; input signals of the first operation unitand input signals of the second operation unit have one common firsttouch sensing signal.
 28. An electronic device comprising: a touchpanel; a touch sensing apparatus and an operation unit, configured tocooperate with each other to perform the touch sensing method accordingto claim 1, and a controller, configured to determine a touch positionbased on the capacitance values of the plurality of to-sense touchsensing units.
 29. An electronic device comprising: a touch panel; atouch sensing apparatus and an operation unit, configured to cooperatewith each other to perform the touch sensing method according to claim15, and a controller, configured to determine a touch position based onthe capacitance values of the plurality of to-sense touch sensing units.